Maybe looking for a good inexpensive sword

[goon]

I would like a viking style sword, possibly one of the single edged variety. Although I don't plan to use it for defending life and limb, I want one that actually could be used for that if need be. A weapon is a weapon after all.
Anyone have any thoughts? Has anyone heard of Vladimir Cervenka and can anyone comment on his work? I have heard that his stuff is inexpensive and functional (which is good because I might want to try reenacting). No sense in beating the snot out of something that costs a whole lot.
Any comments on this guy or on any other leads that may help would be appreciated.

 

[palerider1]

just remember one thing....................you get what you pay for my friend.

 

[Preacherman]

I fear that with any edged weapon, as opposed to edged display piece, the terms "good" and "inexpensive" are usually mutually exclusive...

 

[Soap]

AFAIK Cervenka has an excellent reputation- Good pieces at very reasonable prices.

 

[Smith357]

Cold Steel makes some decent blades, at moderate prices. They are combat ready and under $400

http://www.savsonswordsandknives.com/costvisw.html

 

[MadMercS55]

Last Legend made some nice Viking style weapons awhile ago. They show up on ebay and other places from time to time. The went between $300-600 pending model. They were also designed to take some abuse from what owners have told me, and have a very good warranty.

 

[hso]

Much of what I read about his work is positive. At ~$270 for one of his rapiers I expect the single-edge viking sword to be a bargain. Are you willing to wait the 18 months to get it though?

I do have to say that you'll get plenty of comments about the odd nature of a single-edge viking so if you haven't researched them yet you should.

 

[hso]

any other leads that may help would be appreciated.

http://www.fioredeiliberi.org/equipment/

 

[RyanM]

http://www.kriscutlery.com is pretty good.
http://www.himalayan-imports.com/ sells a few swords in addition to khukuris.

 

[hso]

Looks like he gets ~ $350 for a viking.

 

[goon]

He is asking $400 for the sword I wanted and $40 to ship it to the US. Although I have found nothing but good reviews about his stuff, the wait is 2 years. That is a long time.
I don't even know if I will be alive or employed in two years.
I'll have to put this off until my life is a little more stable.

 

[hso]

If you're willing to forego the single edge Viking then there's a world of other options open to you with shorter waits (and some even less expensive). If you've got your heart set on the single Viking, I understand these things myself, then save up and go for it.

 

[KriegHund]

The main problem with cheapo swords is that the tang is very small if non existant.

They can all be sharpened (though how well it holds is a different matter).

If you are willing to do a bit of modification and have the tools, you can cut the blade off at the joining of the handle and blade, square up the lower inches of the cut off blade, drill two holes and make your own full tang.

Balance (as if there was any to begin with) will be off, but if you have a welder you can do some to fix it. (adding a thick disk of metal)

Sharpening is easy with a bench grinder, files, and a knife sharpener or whetstone (in that order)

Thus you can make a 15$ blade into something...useable. the steel will still be poor quality, but if it isnt too hard (poor quality steel should be softer, yes??) it wont snap. And who cares about how LONG it stays sharp after the first razor-sharp cut on the enemies flesh? (well, in a HD s\cenario. On a battlefield i suspect that is rather important )
Plus, if you break it, no biggy.

 

[goon]

Well I am not opposed to spending money. I have been looking toward the albion squire viking sword as a possible starter. I know that a decent one costs as much as or more than a comparable quality firearm. Oh well. Guess that is the price you pay to be able to swing a sword around and pretend you are a viking kicking some butt.

 

[Limeyfellow]

Thats sure true about the pricing. I used to do re-enacting of Viking battles and so on when I still lived in Britain and the stuff to setup cost a fair bit. Luckly we had sponsorers to help fund some of the cost.

 

[Mooseman]

Cheap sword that works

I know that some of the rennaisance (sp?) fairs have blacksmiths that make inexpensive combat ready swords. Not much to look at but pretty sturdy.

 

[Trebor]

Some good links there. Thanks.